Mizzou Softball struggles against No. 25 South Carolina, playoff hopes thin

Despite coming into the game with momentum from a strong 5-0 win on Saturday that forced a rubber match, Mizzou Softball couldn’t get it done against No. 25 South Carolina, falling 4-0 on Sunday in Columbia as the Tigers’ playoff tunnel becomes narrower.

The star of the show was South Carolina pitcher Jori Heard, who also pitched a complete game in the series’ first game. Heard finished Game 3 with another shutout, to go along with six strikeouts and just three hits.

“I thought she worked down in the zone a lot better than Friday,” Mizzou coach Larissa Anderson said of Heard after the game. “She has that really good drop and in the scouting report she doesn’t throw it as often as she threw it to us. She doesn’t miss very often.”

Mizzou struggled to get any offense going following an action-packed second inning where the Tigers looked to respond following a solo home run from South Carolina’s Tori Ensley.

After an Abby Hay ground out, Sidney Forrester got the Tigers’ first base hit of the day on a single to center field. Madison Uptegrove then snuck one through the middle to give Mizzou back-to-back base hits. With two on and one out, Claire Cahalan walked to load the bases for the Tigers. Sophie Smith — who was 0-for-23 in her last 23 ABs according to the broadcast — and Kayley Lenger struck out to strand three runners on base.

Following the second inning, Mizzou only saw one more hit the rest of the game.

The Tigers used three different pitchers but really only struggled with big-time hits. The Gamecocks matched Mizzou’s total of three hits on the game, but they were three home runs. Cierra Harrison had the start in the circle, finishing with three strikeouts and three hit by pitches — the first ones allowed this season — and two earned runs while allowing one hit in 4.1 innings. Marissa McCann struggled following Saturday’s gem. She finished with two earned runs on back-to-back solo shots from South Carolina in the fifth frame. Following McCann’s short-lived outing, the Tigers elected to bring in Abby Carr, who struggled against the Gamecocks on Friday. Carr had a strong bounce-back performance allowing zero runs and striking out two during the final two innings.